No denying that. I usually surf the net in the office (pluses of being chief typist, cleaner, filing room clerk, et al) but now that most cities are going into lock-down, I may be forced into working from home. Timing couldn't be better though.

No denying that. I usually surf the net in the office (pluses of being chief typist, cleaner, filing room clerk, et al) but now that most cities are going into lock-down, I may be forced into working from home. Timing couldn't be better though.

Saturday - Very little new here, other than some nice thunderboomers this morning. Have to say, that's the one thing this house lacks: a porch where I can sit out and watch the weather and the world go by. Darn it, every house should have a porch, don't you think?

Watched the FOX broadcast of the iRacing Pro-invitational. It certainly was interesting. Not as long as a regular NASCAR race, but a number of the big name guys were taking part. Some, like Denny Hamlin, had $40,000 sim rigs they were using. Others, like the winner, Timmy Hill, had a simple steering wheel clamped to a desk, pedals on the floor, connected to one monitor. Thus proving it isn't better technology that will determine a winner. It was clear that it was virtual. But, from certain angles (yes, they had every possible "camera angle" that they would have in a real race) you couldn't tell it from actual broadcasts. It wasn't the greatest thing, however, with a lack of sports in general, I'll take it.

I turned it on and when I told my wife it was iRacing she didn't believe me. As you say, the virtual camera angles tracking the cars looked like regular broadcast shots so she thought it was a real race.

Noticed one continuity problem. When the cars were viewed from the side you'd see them passing empty stands. When they showed the long shot of the cars coming down pit lane for gas the grandstands in the background were filled. Otherwise it was about 8/10ths of the experience of a real race with some of the usual broadcasters and drivers.

Was happy to have Indy Car and Nascar iRacing this weekend. The only live competition on the planet. John Henry (who started iRacing) had the best weekend ever for his company. :-)

I turned it on and when I told my wife it was iRacing she didn't believe me. As you say, the virtual camera angles tracking the cars looked like regular broadcast shots so she thought it was a real race.

Noticed one continuity problem. When the cars were viewed from the side you'd see them passing empty stands. When they showed the long shot of the cars coming down pit lane for gas the grandstands in the background were filled. Otherwise it was about 8/10ths of the experience of a real race with some of the usual broadcasters and drivers.

Was happy to have Indy Car and Nascar iRacing this weekend. The only live competition on the planet. John Henry (who started iRacing) had the best weekend ever for his company. :-)

One other "glitch in the matrix" I saw was a car completely disappear for about 2-3 seconds during the race. Thought I was losing it for a moment. Then I remembered, I never really had it!

Later in the evening, I saw that FOX was broadcasting a EA Sports Madden NFL invitational. Pros playing each other from their respective homes. Six minute quarters with full commentary. The only downside was that they only used one angle, so it wasn't as exciting as real football. But, it was something to watch regardless.

One other "glitch in the matrix" I saw was a car completely disappear for about 2-3 seconds during the race. Thought I was losing it for a moment. Then I remembered, I never really had it!

Later in the evening, I saw that FOX was broadcasting a EA Sports Madden NFL invitational. Pros playing each other from their respective homes. Six minute quarters with full commentary. The only downside was that they only used one angle, so it wasn't as exciting as real football. But, it was something to watch regardless.

The disappearing car was likely a connectivity problem. A car will flicker or disappear momentarily when the connection is weak or momentarily compromised.

The other iRacing oddity is in the pits after a pit stop you can virtually drive through the car in front of you if there is one. I think I saw some cars driving through cars during pit in as well. They're all just settings but most want to see racing on the track and not have a good race spoiled by pointless fender benders in the pits.

The good part about iRacing is that there is a real skill set involved. Tracks are laser scanned and all the parameters of the cars (Tire pressures, roll bar settings, spring rates etc.) can be changed. (They made all the Nascar cars the same to test driver skill)

Just like on a real track, drivers who do iRacing all the time learn where they can get away with things that less experienced virtual drivers haven't learned yet. That's why the younger drivers in Indy and Nascar tend to do well. In most cases, they've spent many more hours in simulators.

Monday - Drat, skipped Sunday, not that Saturday was all that notable. The routine has pretty well set in here, starting the second week, and I get the distinct impression that it will be extending well past the April 6th barrier, judging from the headlines. [shrug] No biggie. We got LOTS of food and LOTS of DVDs and Blu-rays, so we should be pretty well fixed.

Considering we're the 9th most populous state in America, I think we're doing alright. In terms of numbers of confirmed cases, we are 19th. Two weeks ago all of the universities moved basically everything online, sporting events (such as the ACC and NCAA tournaments, of which NC is a huge part) were cancelled, and restaurants were ordered to close their dining rooms (they can still serve takeout though). As of this writing there have only been 7 deaths. No other states with over 1,000 cases have deaths reported in the single-digits.

Last week, several of the biggest counties issued countywide shelter-in-place orders, so this is just more of the same, except for a longer time period at a statewide level.

Line up your Netflix account (I can offer a couple recommendations if you like), make sure your internet account is paid for [grin!] and if you have DVDs and Blu-rays, get 'em in the queue. A couple good books don't hurt, either!

We in Ohio are at 2200 cases as of today. We have a "stay out home" order now but most business are still considered essential. I actually have a requested customer visit next week. I haven't even been to our own office for 2 weeks.

I need periodic high spirited drives so I hope the national guard doesn't stop me.. or try.

Tuesday - Up early to get the winter tires swapped for summer rubber, then down to Best Buy to pick up my copy of The Rise of Skywalker, then maybe get some more Fancy Feast for my Morris-kitty. If the weather cooperates, the lawn may get its first cutting of the year, too. We'll see.

Well, made it through day 1 of statewide shelter in place without anything crazy happening. NC cases up to about 1,500 active as of now, but the good news is that we finally have our first five official recoveries.

It was a halfway decent day here. Work wise, spent most of it putting out fires. But, the weather was decent; which allowed me to take another walk around the cemetery. I'll definitely get more exercise during this lockdown!

In other news, the Lego Bugatti is nearly complete. A full allotment of pics will be forthcoming. But, it got me thinking about my LEGO vehicle collection and what it might be worth if the cars were real and I bought them new. So, since I had the time, I compiled the following list. Surprisingly, the Fiat was the hardest to locate. And, I'm not entirely sure it is correct. As for the others, they are as close to original MSRP as I could find. There are only two exceptions. One is the 1966 LeMans winning GT40. Besides not really being able to find its original price, its estimated auction value was far sexier. So, I used that. The other is the Ferrari 488 GT3 Scuderia Corsa. Couldn't find that specific one either. Thus, I used the road-going 488 GT3 price. Enjoy!

Back before I had kids, mortgage, etc. I had a MASSIVE collection of diecast cars, mostly 1:12 and 1:18 scale.

To avoid "fire sale" situations, when my firsts (twin boy and girl) were on the way I started grouping and selling in sets, making "instant collections" (i.e. every Ferrari Maisto made, every color of a particular Ertl model, you get the point).

As I paid Toys R Us prices for most of them and sold them for collector guide rates, I made quite a bundle. Then several new manufacturers entered the game, with higher detail, better accuracy and the most sought-out colors.

Which, naturally, I couldn't afford.

So now there are a few specific vehicles I pick up when I can (I'm a rabid collector of Christine '58 Plymouths for instance), and I have to be happy with that. Which I am. Mostly.

My biggest problem now is finding places to put the REAL cars I own, and buyers for one or two that need new homes. [Anybody in the market for an '89 OIds Custom Cruiser wood-sided battlewagon?]

Ah well. Considering what's going on in the world, it's a good problem to have. Enjoy your collection my friend, but beware: one becomes two, two becomes 20, etc. "Just one more" is NEVER just one more...

Ah well. Considering what's going on in the world, it's a good problem to have. Enjoy your collection my friend, but beware: one becomes two, two becomes 20, etc. "Just one more" is NEVER just one more...

I certainly enjoy it. But, um... Having 14 doesn't attest to the fact that the "just one more" virus hasn't already taken hold?